Going Home
by Tsukino Akume
Summary: When Rocky gave up his position as a Ranger, his reasons weren't exactly what the others expected. PR3 Ninjas Crossover


Disclaimer:If I owned Power Rangers or the 3 Ninjas movies, I wouldn't be working minimum wage and shopping discount wholesale stores. I'd be poolside on a sunny ranch in Southern California, living the good life. Sadly, I'm not so blessed.  
  
This is a Power Rangers/3 Ninja's fusion. For those who don't know what that is, it's a crossover that actually makes the characters part of the same universe. Or so I hear. If that doesn't make any sense, we'll call it a Power Rangers/3 Ninjas crossover.  
  
This came to me after watching 3 Ninjas Knuckle Up for the umpteenth time. I love Power Rangers and 3 Ninjas, and the similarities between Rocky of PR and the humor and fighting styles of 3 Ninjas hit me. Thus, this fic was born. I'm fairly certain there will be more. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.  
  
Enjoy! *Crosses fingers*  
  
Going Home  
  
Rocky sighed, settling more comfortably on his bench as he waited for the others to emerge. There were going to be questions, and he knew they wouldn't like the answers. Thankfully, they were kind enough to wait until Justin was sent home. He was *not* discussing this in front of The Kid.  
  
Then again, The Kid was the whole problem in the first place. He hadn't meant for it to happen; honestly he hadn't. But the moment he saw Justin, he thought of TumTum, and couldn't help but like him. When he found out Justin knew their identities, three things ran through his mind;a) everyone who knew who they were became a Ranger themselves, b) the Rangers would need a Blue Ranger and he obviously wasn't going anywhere, and c) he missed his brothers even more than he thought was possible.  
  
When they were little, everything had been so simple. He and his brothers were a team, the 3 Ninjas, the ones who defeated the bad guys and saved the day. Then he'd met Adam and Aisha; a shy kung fu artist and a girl with a quick wit and karate punch to rival Colt's. They'd just sort of...clicked.   
  
One day Aisha had signed them up for a martial arts competition, calling them the Three Ninjas (The difference between the number 3 and written three were extremely significant, or at least they were to him), and he hadn't had the heart to tell her he was already part of a Ninja trio. Then that fateful day had happened, when Colt overheard her. He'd been furious; screaming at him that fine, he had a new group of ninjas, they didn't need him anyway. Things had never been the same between them after that, and it killed him to admit that he hadn't done as much as he should have to fix it.  
  
He looked up as Tommy, Adam, Kat, and Tanya approached and braced himself. Kat and Tanya took the places on either side of him he was expecting them to, while Tommy stood off to one side with his arms crossed and an almost-scowl on his face. Adam leaned against a wall, trying to seem unaffected when he was truly hurting. So like Colt that way...  
  
He shook himself from that particular train of thought before he got lost from the conversation they were about to have. "So...good trip?" He could have smacked himself for that one. He was getting more like TumTum everyday.  
  
Tommy fixed him with The Stare. The one he'd copied from Jason that was supposed to be the Intimidating Leader Stare. Jason's made you want to spill all your secrets, but on Tommy it came out as something more eye-roll worthy. "Coulda been better. You gonna tell us what's up, Rocky?"  
  
Ouch. No Rocko. That was a bad sign.  
  
"Rocky, why out of the blue like this? If you were having second thoughts about being a Ranger, why didn't you tell us?" Kat asked, reaching over to take his hand. Her blue eyes were large and sympathetic.  
  
He sighed. "It's not really out of the blue. I've been thinking about it since I met Justin, actually. I just wasn't sure how to bring it up."  
  
"Why Justin?" Tanya's voice was as soft as Kat's.  
  
"Because he reminded me of my little brothers."  
  
"You never told us you had any brothers, Rocky."  
  
"Something else that never came up?" Tommy's accusation was more obvious than Kat's.  
  
He shrugged, unsure of what else to say.  
  
"Why, Rocky?" Adam spoke up at last, his hurt obvious. "That's all we want to know. Why are you leaving, and why Justin?"  
  
"It's a long story." he warned. The stares didn't change, and he took a deep breath. "Ever since I was little, my brothers and I have spent the summer at our grandfather's cabin. He'd train us in ninjitsu, teaching us to be a true ninja. My dad never liked it, but Mom always convinced him it was good for us. Turned out it was, 'cause all three of us tended to be trouble magnets."  
  
"I can believe that." Tommy said dryly.  
  
He frowned at him. "Hey, who's story is this?"  
  
"Yours, Rocky." he chuckled.  
  
Chuckling was a good sign. "Anyway, like I said, we got into trouble a lot. Terrorists, evil ninjas, illegal dumpsters, and various kidnappers." he counted off on his fingers.  
  
"And all this before you became a Ranger?" Tanya seemed a bit skeptical, but he supposed that was to be expected.  
  
He nodded. "Grandpa trained us to handle it though, and someone always ended helping us out in someway or another. Usually Grandpa, but there was the occasional girl. Grandpa trained us pretty well, and gave us our Ninja Names."  
  
"Ninja Names?" Kat echoed.  
  
"Yeah. It's sorta like a nickname, but we liked them so much we kept them. Rocky is my Ninja Name, because I'm cool and strong, like a rock. Then there's Colt, 'cause he's wild and spirited, like an untamed horse. TumTum is the littlest. Grandpa said his energy begins and ends with his tummy."  
  
That got giggles, and he couldn't help a fond smile at the thought of them.  
  
"You really love them, don't you?"  
  
He looked at Kat, started, them smiled somewhat sheepishly. "Yeah. We were a team. We called ourselves the 3 Ninjas."  
  
Adam's head shot towards him, eyes wide. "But that's..."  
  
He nodded, the smile turning sad. "After I met Adam and Aisha, she started calling the us the Three Ninjas. Colt heard her say it one day and the result wasn't pretty." He winced at the memory.  
  
"So that's why he hated us so much." Adam said softly.  
  
Rocky nodded again. "He thought you guys were taking me away from them. And TumTum does just about whatever Colt says. And after that, we joined the Ninja competition, met Tommy, Billy, and Kimberly, found out about the Rangers, and got chosen. We had to move to Angel Grove to be Rangers; it just didn't make sense otherwise. So I moved in with my dad's sister's family and she started putting DeSantos on all my school records so no one would bother me about it. Things just sort of...settled out after that."  
  
"But why now?" Tommy asked. The anger was gone, replaced by genuine hurt and concern. "Why leave all of a sudden?"  
  
"A couple of things. Justin just seemed to find out about us at the perfect time; new powers, new Ranger. No transfer or anything. I did sort of wish I could have given him some kind of ceremony like the rest of us got." he mused. "It's just that...after I met him, I saw so much of Colt's spirit and TumTum's humor in him, that I just couldn't let it go. I started getting so homesick I actually called my mom. She almost had a heart attack when she finally realized who it was. And that hurt. It just made me feel worse about how I haven't kept in touch with the people who matter most to me. My brothers used to be my best friends. Hell, everyone thought Colt and I were twins. And now I don't even know what their interests are anymore. I'm not even sure they still practice ninja, though I doubt Colt would ever quit." he added in aside. He shrugged helplessly. "I want my family back, guys."  
  
The Hug was next, Kat and Tanya squeezing him from either side as they promised him they understood, and they were still his friends. That led to Tommy's reassuring handshake/pat on the back to make him feel better. Adam came towards him at last, and they embraced tightly. "I'll miss you." his third best friend whispered in his ear.  
  
"I'll miss you too, Buddy. Promise to write?"  
  
Adam nodded in agreement, and they let go with a final squeeze. There were more promises and goodbyes, and at last he was able to walk away. The weight on his heart seemed lighter, but he knew there was still more to be worked out. That came next.  
  
Justin would make a good Ranger, he decided. Billy's intelligence, Colt's spirit, and TumTum's humor made a deadly combination. Now he just needed to get over that self-esteem problem and he'd be the perfect Ranger. But that's why the others would be there, after all. Rangers watch out for each other.  
  
Now it was time to remind himself of a former alligence he'd lost, and watch out for them. The way it should be.  
  
****  
  
Once again he found himself fidgeting, this time as he hitched his backpack over his shoulder. Taking a deep breath, he knocked.  
  
Two seconds later, he was literally bowled over with a cry of "RockyRockyRockyRocky!"  
  
"Hey, Tum." he managed. "I missed you, too."  
  
"This is so cool!" his baby brother chirped. "I can't believe you're home!"  
  
"Me, neither." he agreed ruefully. He ruffled TumTum's hair affectionately.  
  
"Samuel."  
  
He sighed silently, turning to face Colt as he leaned in the doorway. "Hey, Colt."  
  
"Where're your friends?" came the cool reply.  
  
This time the sigh was audible. "Aisha's in Africa and Adam still lives in Angel Grove."  
  
He smiled smugly. "So they ditched you."  
  
Irrational anger flared at that, and he fought to surpress it. Colt didn't know, couldn't know, had no idea what it was like to be a Ranger, to fight and nearly die with your comrades. There was no way either of them could comprehend-  
  
"Knock it off, Colt." TumTum told him crossly. "You know Rangers wouldn't do that to each other."  
  
He blinked. He wasn't sure what was more surprising; that TumTum had just hinted that they knew who he'd been, or that he'd just stood up to Colt. "Huh?" he said intelligently.  
  
"Look, we'll talk about this tonight." TumTum told them. "We don't want Mom and Dad to hear."  
  
And then his mother was crying his name, and everything was lost in a blur of family reunion.  
  
****  
  
"So..." Rocky kicked his feet back and forth on his old twin bed nervously.  
  
"So we know you're a Power Ranger." TumTum informed him. "We saw you on T.V. and recognized your fighting style and jokes, and Colt's jealous 'cause you've got your own friends and you were a Ranger."  
  
"I am not!" Colt shot back hotly.  
  
"Are too!"  
  
"Am not!"  
  
"Are too!"  
  
"Am not!"  
  
"Is that true?" Rocky broke in softly. His eyes met Colt's as they looked at him. "I...I never meant to hurt your feelings or leave you guys behind. Everything just seemed to snowball, and then all I could think about was what if one of Zedd and Rita's monsters came after you two? I wanted to stay in contact, but this seemed safer. I never wanted any of it." He bowed his head as he finished.  
  
"Always have to be the big brother, don't you?"  
  
He looked up in surprise at Colt's cross words and suspiciously gentle tone.  
  
"You just can't stop trying to protect us." Colt continued. "It's like an obsession."  
  
"Maybe a hobby." TumTum suggested with a grin.  
  
Colt sighed at Rocky's watery eyes. "Oh, come on. Don't get all mushy on me."  
  
He leapt, tackling his younger brother to the floor and wrestling around. "Dogpile!" TumTum shouted gleefully, pouncing on them both. They tossled around, shouting at one another and Rocky hadn't laughed so hard in years.  
  
Eventually their mother came to break them up and scold them about going to bed. As Rocky curled up in a bed that was quite frankly too small, he'd never felt happier.  
  
"G'night, Rocky. G'night Colt."  
  
"Night, TumTum. Night Rocky."  
  
"Good night." 


End file.
